Removable tooth positioning appliances (invisible braces), such as clear plastic aligners and retainers that tightly fit over teeth are commonly used in orthodontic treatments as an alternative to braces and other bonded orthodontic equipment for controlled tooth movement to a pre-determined position. These clear plastic tooth positioning appliances are not bonded to the teeth which they are used to manipulate but are made to be removed in order to eat, drink, brush, and floss the teeth as well as during dental procedures. The appliance is fabricated from a mold of the patient's teeth in order to provide accuracy of placement in compliance with the exact shape of the teeth or the exact shape and any necessary attachment devices. See U.S. Pat. No. 6,183,248 for an example of such a removable tooth positioning appliance which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference. Total treatment time with clear plastic aligners averages 9-15 months and the average number of aligners worn during treatment is between 18 and 30, but both will vary from case to case. When teeth are moved into their final position patients are then only required to wear the aligners at night.
Removable tooth positioning appliances consist of a thin shell of clear material that conforms to a patient's teeth but just slightly out of alignment with the initial tooth configuration. By properly choosing the configuration, placement of the appliance over the teeth will move individual teeth to desired intermediate or final positions over time. These positioning appliances can be designed to fit over any number of teeth, and are typically designed to be placed over the entire top and/or bottom set of teeth.
To achieve the repositioning forces required to move a tooth from one position to another position these tooth positioning appliance must be relatively stiff (i.e. possess a high strength or high modulus) to provide a sufficient grip on the teeth The stiffness provides the repositioning force necessary to move the teeth and ensures that the dental appliance remains firmly in position on the patient's teeth. The stiffness also permits the positioning appliance to grab hold of an anchor device or attachments on the tooth to apply a directed force to execute orthodontic tooth movements.
The stiffness of the tooth positioning appliance and the requirement that the appliance tightly conform to the teeth of the patient makes it difficult to remove these appliances. It is necessary to remove the positioning appliance many times daily in the course of the patient's daily life for cleaning, dental hygiene, to eat, and removal for cosmetic purposes and replacement in the course of treatment. Patients are instructed to use their fingers and fingernails to remove the appliances but they often find removing the appliances to be difficult and in many cases painful. Patients also find it unsanitary to be continually putting their hands in their mouths. Because removal of the appliances requires a lever action patients often will attempt to use household instruments, such as forks, spoons, or nut picks to remove their tooth positioning appliance. Using improvised instruments can damage the patient's teeth, gums and the appliance itself. During visits to the dental practitioner these practitioners use orthodontic instruments designed for other uses to remove the appliance. These orthodontic appliances often present the same problems and dangers as the patient's improvised instruments. For these reasons, it is desirable to provide a lightweight and convenient tool that is specifically designed to remove such tooth positioning appliances from a patient's teeth in a safe, easy, and effective manner.
Present principles recognize problems of the existing tool seen in U.S. Pat. No. 7,011,517—“Apparatus and method for removing a removable tooth positioning appliance from the teeth of a patient, ART® The Appliance Remover Tool.” The Art® tool is not effective for the use it was designed as it is difficult to hold and manage, it does not have a place to grip, the U shape is curved so that there is no leverage, the distal ends are too large to position under the aligners, and both ends are the same shape so it doesn't solve the problem of removing both top and bottom appliances. Because both ends of the ART are the same shape it requires the person to attempt to remove appliances by inserting the ART on the inside or tongue side which is ineffective due U shaped design making it difficult to grip, the distal ends are too large to insert between the appliance and the teeth, and there no visibility when using it on the inside of the mouth, the person has to search blindly to find a place to attempt to engage the tool.
Problems of the ART tool are as follows:    1. Due to the curved U shape of the tool persons cannot maintain grip and adequately apply leverage to exert force.    2. Persons cannot position the Art Tool between the teeth and the aligner because the distal ends are too large.    3. The curved shape of the distal ends reduces leverage required to exert force to remove the appliance. Instead of pulling down or pushing up like persons do with the Outie Tool, with the ART the persons must pull out away from the mouth reducing mechanical force.    4. The curved shape and the thickness of the distal ends that taper to a point increases the potential to injure the gums or teeth. The person may attempt to quickly jerk off the appliance because they cannot adequately engage the tool between the teeth and the appliance. This may harm the gums, teeth or tear appliance.    5. The distal ends of the ART tool are both the same, this requires the person to put the tool on the tongue side where there is no visibility and the person is unable to grip and exert force, and a person cannot engage the tool fully in order to easily and effectively remove the appliance.
For all these reasons the ART tool is ineffective in its design.